Apparently Ricky Dawkins is now taking cues from Ricky Rozay.
Ricky D’s comments in the video come from an event he did with Stephen Law during Oxford Think Week in February 2013. (In case you’re wondering, the relevant segment starts at about 1:11:00 into the full video, which you can find at that link. Yes, he really does say the B word. And gets a lot of applause for it.)
Even more alarming than the b-word is his contention that science-based medicine is in the business of killing people. Though I don’t think that’s quite what he meant to say.
EDIT: I guess he does say “cure” people, though the way he says it somehow sounds remarkably similar to “kill.” In my defense I’m old and have wax in my ears.
(This is possibly old news to some people, but it’s new to me!)
H/T: r/againstmensrights
I am seriously considering the idea that Dawkins is exhibiting early signs of dementia. He seems to lack any ability to consider what he is saying.
To be fair, he was simply trying to be relevant to the Internet. He’s citing a very popular, although old, XKCD comic: http://xkcd.com/54/
Doesn’t really excuse it, but helps explain.
Did he say science-based medicine kills people somewhere else in the talk? In this clip he said, “If you base medicine on science you CURE people.”
But yeah, Dawkins appears to be doing that thing where people who fear becoming out-of-touch pander to “cool pop sexism.” Like many before him.
That video’s hilarious though.
I’m pretty sure he says “you cure people”, not “you kill people”.
I’m pretty sure he says “cures people” not “kills people”.
He’s quoting XKCD, which (I guess) may or may not have been quoting someone else…
http://xkcd.com/54/
I thought he said “killing people” the first time I listened too. But he actually says “curing people.”
Yeah, David, a correction is due. Dawkins is a sexist, but he’s consistently pro scientific medicine.
I agree, I can’t imagine him ever saying that something rooted in science kills people.
Def said cure, not kill.
He says all kinds of dumbshit offensive racist grandpa-would-say stuff but he’s pro-evidence-based medicine.
Yeah, I had to listen to it three times but eventually it does indeed sound like he meant ‘cures’.
On the quote itself, it sounds like it comes from the notably not-sexist nerd comic xkcd (xkcd.com), see http://xkcd.com/54/.
Not being a native English speaker, I’m curious if the b-word in plural is always a gendered slur or if in a different context, it can be safely said as a neutral if derogatory familiar epithet.
To follow up, I would guess the public applauds the nerdy reference not the slur itself. And even if it were mutating its meaning, or reclaimed by feminists, I think the b-word is not Dawkins’ to use considering his sexist track, just giving some context.
I’m pretty sure he’s just quoting an xkcd comic. What’s more interesting about that talk was that he didn’t seem to comprehend the question he was being asked, which was cut out of this clip. He was being asked an interesting philosophical question, and he gave no indication that he grasped it, but bullshitted out an answer anyway.
@sarah
Opinions vary. I and most people I know consider it more of a generic swear like the s word or f word. Unless you are specifically using it to refer to a woman or group of women, of course.
He says “cure people” in his posh accent. Also, to be fair, he is quoting Randall Munroe:
http://xkcd.com/54/
I really don’t want to defend Dawkins. This guy is awful, and his specific mixture of sociobiology and evopsych has long been refuted by other geneticists, as his theory of the “selfish gene”. I don’t think real scientists want much to do with him. Even before his public meltdowns, it was clear from his own scientific work as well as from his criticism of religion what his politics are – extreme biological reductionism, and socially reactionary politics as a consequence.
It’s definitely meant as a nerd reference. It just sounds super clunky and awkward given the way he speaks and his accent. He’s got a track record of saying really dumb things about women so that in conjunction with his mannerisms has a lot of people caught off guard. He’s actually just quoting.
He’s still a ridiculous old man in a lot of respects.
Was he supposed to be quoting Jesse from Breaking Bad?
He prefers to Badger.
I was actually going to suggest he’d just been channelling Jesse Pinkman. Gatorade me, bitch!
I personally thought this was funny. It’s the least offensive thing this old fuck has said in a while, but if I’m wrong then do tell me so
I thought he said “kill,” too, but I’ll take everyone’s word for it.
I’m sure he is quoting that xkcd cartoon, but it’s risible in his accent, and with that severe, ruddy little face under the posh silver hair. What next, Sir Mix-A-Lot?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TotallyRadical
He’s just so cringey.
Where I get hung up is, scientific medicine curing people doesn’t mean that scientifically determined knowledge is TRUE, just that it’s USEFUL. (unless you think those are the same thing, which is valid but probably not what these guys think)
Does anyone remember that quote about how Richard Dawkins is proof that if you give a single-celled organism enough time, it will evolve into a public embarrassment who should have retired from the spotlight years ago?
zyvlyn, using a word that is considered a slur against women as a catch all insult/cuss is not cool with a lot of us.